though, have been canceled. we'll have the latest on the quake and its aftermath in a little while on "good morning america." back here at home, now. new details about the rescue of that little boy from an underground bunker in alabama. >> ethan turns 6 years old today. safe and sound at home, his mother is saying how wonderful it is to be able to hold him again. but the story could have ended much differently, as investigators are finding out. abc's tahman bradley has the very latest. >> reporter: today, little ethan celebrates his 6th birthday in his mother's arms, rescued from an underground bunker where he was held hostage for nearly a week. this morning, the fbi and other local agencies will be back at the property, searching for more explosives. yesterday, bomb technicians found two improvised explosive devices on the site. one was inside the bunker. the other was in the plastic pipe the negotiators used to communicate with ethan's kidnapper. we're also lempb learning more

about the secret operation to free the little boy. sources tell abc news, the negotiators convinced dykes to approach the bunker door to accept delivery of an item. there, fbi agents set off an explosive device. law enforcement sources say dykes fired on the agents. they fired back. and moments later, dykes was dead, ethan safe. law enforcement officers spent several days planning the raid. they even built this mock bunker to train agents for a breach. >> you can practice breaching the door. you can practice having a camera inside. and ultimately design how you're going to assault this bunker. >> reporter: last night, at an emotional candlelight celebration, residents at midland city, alabama, reflected on the ordeal. >> right now, we're truly blessed. truly blessed to see god work a miracle in our hometown. >> people are grieving here, the loss of the way of life. many people here don't keep their doors locked. things are going to change in our community, especially for our school system. >> reporter: little ethan, who has autism and adhd, is said to be doing well. his classmates are throwing him

a big birthday party. rob and diana? >> a happy birthday for that little guy. all right. tahman bradley, live in washington. thanks, as always, tahman. also, in other news this morning, an increasing number of lawmakers are expressing concern of the obama administration's use of drone strikes. the concern stems from new evidence on how much authority the administration believes it has to kill suspected terrorists, even if they're american citizens. abc's jon karl reports. >> reporter: a newly disclosed justice department document say american citizens tied to al qaeda can be killed, if, quote, an informed high-level official believes the target poses an imminent threat. but the document says it, quote, does not require the government to have clear evidence. case in point, anwar al awlaki, an american citizen and top al qaeda leader, linked to several terror attacks. he was killed in a 2011 drone strike. human rights advocates say the justice department memo goes way too far.

and -- >> justifies, essentially, a claim that the executive branch can be judge, jury and executioner. >> reporter: as soon as he became president, barack obama stopped cia tactics like waterboarding, that he considered torture. but this justifies outright killing of a suspected terrorist. how does dropping an bomb on an american citizen without any judicial review, any trial, not raise the very human rights questions or more human rights questions than something like waterboarding? >> the president understands the gravity of these issues. that's why he's committed to taking very seriously, both his responsibilities in this. >> reporter: the white house says the president's top priority has been protecting the american people in a way consistent with our values. but you can expect that his choice to run the cia will face sharp questions about this later this week at his confirmation hearings. and some in congress are trying to impose limits on the administration's ability to use drone strikes. jonathan karl, abc news, the white house.

and as congress tries to limit those drone strikes, the president has his own message for capitol hill about the economy. on march 1st, deep cuts to government spending will kick in. so, the president is telling lawmakers, if they cannot get a big deal together by that date, they should, at the very least, pass a short-term agreement. we've certainly seen that before. but right now, there's no indication the lawmakers are close to any kind of agreement. and mr. obama has a visit to the middle east on his agenda. the president will go to israel this spring, his first trip there since 2008, when he was a presidential candidate. while he's there, he will visit the west bank and jordan. in the region right now, iranian president, mahmoud ahmadinejad, is visiting egypt. he was forced to cut short a visit to a mosque in cairo yesterday, when a man threw a shoe at him. that is a deep sign of disrespect. ahmadinejad's trip is the first by an iranian leader since iran's revolution in 1979.

abc news has learned that federal investigators are laying criminal charges against lance armstrong. sources tell us that armstrong is being investigated for obstruction of justice, and witness intimidation. armstrong admitted to using drugs while winning seven tour de france titles. investigators are looking into whether he tried to maintain his secrets by threatening potential witnesses. he must come clean under oath. the u.s. anti-doping agents or he'll lose any chance to have his lifetime ban from competitive sports reduced. the baltimore ravens are still partying. tens of thousands of fans lined city streets yesterday to cheer on their team as the city shut down for its celebratory parade. the parade route ended at mmt bank stadium, packed with more fans on the field and in the bleachers. >> ain't no party like a super bowl party. time, now, for a look at weather from across the country. some thunderstorms threatening the central gulf coast.

also, it will be rainy in the pacific northwest. we'll have some fog and clouds that will keep temperatures cool in southern california. also, some showers in oklahoma city and kansas city. >> the temperatures in the northeast finally warm up to more seasonable readings. new york and boston will get close to 40. warmer than usual in the southeast, with atlanta in the mid-60s. 20s for fargo, minneapolis and detroit. honolulu and miami, they're in the low 80s. coming up after the break, a judge you do not want to mess with. >> that's for sure. plus, the price of convenience. online shopping could mean the death of hundreds of local shopping malls. and on top of all that, we'll take a test drive of the tiniest car on the road.

welcome back. the government is claiming a victory against credit card fraud. federal officials say a fraud ring based in new jersey stole $200 million. they allegedly used thousands of fake identities to obtain cards and then got the credit limits raised. 18 people have been arrested for what may be one of the country's largest credit card fraud rings. >> wow. and there are stunning revelations this morning in the government's lawsuit against a top credit rating agency. the justice department says standard & poor's inflated the rates of mortgage products before the financial crisis. the failure of those securities is what helped trigger the housing market crash. even more shocking than that, court papers show s&p employees making jokes and even singing about the situation. and it's not just stores that could be hurt by competition from the internet. analysts say 50% of the country's bigger shopping malls are likely to go out of business.

but megamalls, which include attractions like restaurants and movie theaters, appear to be safe. we're going to learn later on today which monopoly token will no longer pass go or collect $200. fans have been voting online for their favorites. the shoe, the wheelbarrow and the iron have gotten the least amount of support. one of them will be replaced by a cat, a robot, a helicopter, a guitar or, my vote, a diamond ring. >> every woman's vote, the diamond ring. i'm shocked. also, a study finds that three out of five facebook users admit to taking extended breaks from the site. the main reason cited are lack of time and a lack of interest. a few on top of that are worried about privacy. the pugh study finds the breaks, though, don't last much more than a few weeks at a time. >> hard to stay away. >> i'm totally a facebook addict. so, i've never taken a break. >> you don't take a break? >> i love it. >> really? >> i can't wait for the commercial. >> oh. coming up next on this

wednesday morning, a season-ending injury for an olympian, lindsey vonn. the latest on her condition this morning. and the cringe-worthy crash. is this the worst collision ever captured by a dash cam? [ male announcer ] when we built the cadillac ats from the ground up to be the world's best sport sedan... ♪ ...people noticed. ♪ the all-new cadillac ats -- 2013 north american car of the year. ♪ for a limited time, take advantage of this exceptional offer on the all-new cadillac ats.

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[ female announcer ] go to breatheright.com for special offers. hang on tight, everybody. if you're going to be riding the p45. get this. its creator calls it the world's smallest car. even though it's a pretty bumpy ride, it is slim enough to scoot around all that traffic out there. the driver can fill up the tank while being seated in or even on the vehicle. as for taking it on major highways, yeah. good luck with that. >> let's get a car that flies first. then, i'll try that one. if you are driving today, it could be slippery along the i-10, from texas to louisiana. rainy on the roads around

seattle and portland. visibility will be limited in southern california, due to heavy fog. >> and it's a good day for some air travel with delays expected only in houston and the big easy. and back to the news this morning. a texas sheriff says the iraqi war vet charged with killing a military sniper and his friend is refusing to meet with his family or a court-appointed attorney. >> authorities have released the 911 call made by his sister after routh arrived at her house and admitted what he had done. >> he told me he committed a murder. and i'm terrified for my life. >> okay. >> because i don't know if he's going to come back here. >> okay. >> he said he killed two guys. they went out to a shooting range. like, he's all crazy. listen. i don't know if he's being honest with me. >> you can hear the panic there. marine sniper chris kyle will be remembered at a surface next monday at cowboy stadium in dallas.

a funeral service for his friend, chad littlefield, is friday at a church in texas the texas. the trial of george zimmerman will go ahead as scheduled in june. a judge refused to grant a request to delay the trial. zimmerman's attorneys claim the prosecutor did not turn over key evidence in a timely manner. zimmerman is accused of killing teenager, trayvon martin. also from florida, this video showing a miami-dade police officer hugging a woman. the only problem is, he was supposed to be responding to a robbery. the same officer is also seen drinking coffee with colleagues instead of going to another emergency. the video is evidence in an internal affairs investigation of police behavior. three people have been fired and three other officers suspended without pay. a young woman in south florida learned the hard way not to mess with the judge. during monday's bail hearing on drug charges, she was a little too coy. so, the judge doubled her bail. and then, she swore and flipped him off. the judge, as you can imagine,

was not having it. >> i believe i heard you say -- >> yes, i did. >> did you say [ bleep ] me? >> yes, i did. >> did you say that? >> yes, sir, i did. >> oh, you did say that? >> i find you in contempt. i sentence you 30 days in the county jail. >> that's fine. >> woo, that judge, jorge rodriguez is now a hero in the miami area. the teenage inmate appears before another judge later today. let's all hope she's on slightly better behavior. >> in a better mood. >> really. in south korea, a terrifying car crash was caught on tape. the camera captured the moment when an suv struck an oncoming car. here it comes. oh. every time i see that. the car flies overhead, separating two roads. the impact shattered the car's windshield. one more time. both drivers, luckily, survived this accident. slight injuries. >> hard to watch. american skier lindsey vonn, could undergo surgery on her

injured right leg as soon as this weekend. vonn tore two knee ligaments and broke a bone in her leg yesterday when she wiped out, right there, at skiing world's championships in austria. she was treated on the course for 12 minutes before being flown to a nearby hospital. vonn should be fine for next year's olympics. things are heating up in college basketball, even though march madness is still weeks away. details, now, from espn. >> welcome to your "sportscenter" update. i'm jorge andres. a rivalry renewed in ann arbor. number three michigan, taking on number ten ohio state. pick it up in overtime. 13 seconds to play. aaron craft, blocked by trey burke. glenn robinson, rebound himself. no. misses the second one. so, craft, getting another chance, going the other way. this time, blocked by tim hardaway jr. hardaway jr., 23 points in the game. no foul called on that play.

michigan, they hold on to win in overtime, 76-74. florida has won ten-straight game, taking on unranked arkansas. first half, b.j. young the steal. to rashad madden. the pretty finger roll. 18 for him off the bench. hunter mickelson, inside. gets the bucket to go. eight different players scoring at least seven points in the game for the razorbacks. second half, now. michael qualls. 2 of his 11 points in the game. arkansas up 18. erik murphy, gets the hit by coty clarke going the other way. alley-oop jam. nine points, four boards for him. arkansas, their first win over a top-ten team since 1999. they win this one by a final score of 80-69. that's your "sportscenter" update. i'm jorge andres. have a great day. coming up next this morning, "the pulse."

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if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. your money needs an ally. ♪ that, of course, an unmistakable theme song, which we could be hearing soon, on a new "star wars" film. >> and the next character starring in it could be yoda. that's the rumor anyway that's making the rounds online. >> disney, our parent company, recently bought the "star wars" franchise and promised to produce some new movies.

but we don't just yet have any inside information on whether yoda will be the central figure in any of those future flicks. >> and we've been asking. >> yes. we've been digging around. stay tuned. we'll let you know as soon as we do. now, to a priceless reaction of a little girl to one of her favorite things. all little madeline dubois wanted for her third birthday was to ride the train. >> and dad had the video camera rolling as the big engine pulled in. >> a train. >> are we going to ride the train? >> yeah. look at how close to it. oh, my goodness. >> the cute-o-meter is out of control today. that's adorable. madeline is now 5. and she's lost interest in trains. but she will always have this pretty precious moment there. children do change quickly. >> what are you going to do? and finally, getting way too close for comfort with a couple of whales. first, from mexico's pacific coast. >> these images were captured by

an american tourist last week. the whales surfacing right under a small boat, sending it into the air. then, the giant animal jumped almost completely out of the water. truly an amazing sight. >> which is exactly what this is. watch, now, as an adolescent humpback whale off of hawaii, came to the surface, right next to a couple's canoe, lifting the front end of it right in the air. the people who posted the video said they were amazed to be so close to such a big animal. and luckily, they also said nothing bad happened. >> i can't even begin to wrap my brain around something like that. i don't need to go to the gym. my job is my workout. you're shoveling ice all day long. it's rough on the back. it's rough on the shoulders. i get muscle aches all over. advil® is great. pain and soreness is just out of the picture. [ male announcer ] make the switch. take action. take advil®. and for sinus congestion, now you can get advil® combined with a proven decongestant. breathe easier with advil® congestion relief.

she would only get a splash of coffee in her cup and then fill the rest up with cream and it -- mommy, what's going on? what are you doing? so when we did the blonde roast, she finally went from a splash of coffee to only a splash of cream. and i thought that was so cool, i said "well she's enjoying this." ♪ ♪

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>> live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. >> good morning, everyone, at 4:28. we have breaking news from fort lauderdale in florida where a dramatic rescue is underway. we will look at a bakery delivery truck dangling over a freeway. the driver is out, safe.

crews are trying to keep the truck from trashing on to the traffic below. you can see the damage. well continue to monitor the situation in fort lauderdale. >> scary. breaking news from the postallal stopping mail delivery on saturdays starting in august. packages will still be delivered and the post office locations are open. this will save about $2 billion a year. the struggling agency has been looking for ways to cut costs amid competition from e-mail and the internet. >> no stopping delivery of the mail. >> mike, we do not need a stamp for the weather? >> but i am forever here, hopefully. >> you are. >> hopefully. good morning, everyone. here is a look at live doppler 7 hd, on top of mt. mt. mt. st. ha

with a lack of clouds. we are hanging out in the mid-to-upper 40's but some areas are getting in the 30's. there is some frost forming inland. especially each bay. we will have high clouds with temperatures in the mid-50's and the coast will be sunny. sue? >> thanks, mike, we have road work out there, first at the golden gate bridge, the north end of the span you are down to one lane off the waldo and one lake through the tunnel and down the grade to the span. when you are beyond the north end it is wide open and four lanes and no traffic coming through. it is a good time to be coming down the waldo to the golden gate bridge with road work here, two right lanes on the westbound 80 teen powell or from central to powell to emeryville area. and san jose north 85 to 101, right lane blocked until 5:00. kristen and eric in.

>> right now we have developing news in san francisco. police are scheduled to talk about the latest developments in a child disappearance cold case from 1984. amy is live in the haight-ashbury where police served a search warrant. >> police pulled a lot of evidence from the house behind me here. today, we expect to learn more what they found. they are looking into the disappearance of kevin collins who disappeared in 1984 when he was ten. his case generated national attention. he is one of the first children to appear on a milk carton. it was very upsetting to this neighborhood who knew him well, saw him in the neighborhood. he lived across the street from his school. police say they have a "person of interest" who used to live in this house on masonic. he is dan